The Bishop ...superb here. Hardy and reliable.
Sowed seeds of The Bishop's Children a few years back and these produced red and orange flowers on same purple foliage. The foliage has different shades of purple and different leaves. I selected the best and discarded the rest
Jo, all of them are bee friendly but consider sowing some seed.

Jenniferann
Dahlias do need a good start.....lucky down here as they survive outdoors over winter. I pot up dahlias and keep potting on until they are large...in at least 5 litre pots to 10 litres. Developing strong plants as early as possible is the key I think. Regular feeding, pinching, staking and slug/snail pellets are important factors.
Most dahlias will be flowering now.....mine are. Bushes are from 3' to 6' tall, bushy and strong.
Dont go too mad with the feeding...it can be a negative thing. Mulching is a far better option

I have been invited several times to work in local gc. Tempting but.....I'm always haggling there,,often returning faulty plants and like being a customer.
But Dave, you will love it and be alert to the plants heading to the clearance bay before the rest of us know about them